The Questions Within

Book excerpt: Themes: Hi-Lo, Acceptance, self-esteem, sexuality (features lesbian character). This is a series for young adults who find conventional fiction irrelevant or too hard to read. The series takes an honest and hard-hitting approach to subject matter that many teens will identify with, such as self-abuse, family breakdown, suicide, and sexuality. At 25,000 to 35,000 words, the books are shorter than your average novel, but still look like a trade paperback. The clear, carefully chosen font is slightly larger than normal, and paragraphs are broken with a space. Themes include: acceptance, self-esteem, sexuality - Constance is not like the other girls. She prefers comfort and function over fashion. Even as a young girl, Constance has known that she's different. Her high school days are a journey through loneliness, shame, and anger because she does not understand who she is, and she's been taught that being gay--being a lesbian--is shameful. She feels different, and in her mind different is bad.